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The immediate, experiential work of the Holy Spirit and the expectation of spiritual gifts.
Key question: “How does this text reveal the present-day work and power of the Holy Spirit?”
25,762 sermon illustrations through the Pentecostal lens
"To the campesinos in exile from their land, to the refugees, to those displaced by violence: God has plans for YOU—not the plans of the powerful who exile you, but God's plans of hope. Liberation is coming. Justice will prevail.
"In Jesus Christ God has said Yes to humanity. The giving of the Son is the great divine Yes that precedes and grounds every other word from God.
"The oppressed need wisdom—wisdom to survive, wisdom to resist, wisdom to hope. God gives generously to those seeking how to live with integrity in unjust systems. Ask for wisdom to navigate, wisdom to endure, wisdom to see the way forward...
"God goes before as light in darkness; He accompanies as friend on pilgrimage. This is synergy: divine initiative and human journey intertwined. Through the Liturgy, through icons, through the Church's life, His presence is experienced. He never leaves His faithful." — St.
"The inheritance Paul mentions is the reward at Christ's judgment seat. Work now; reward comes later. In this church age, we work faithfully, knowing the Lord evaluates all service. Occupy until He comes—and that includes occupational faithfulness. Every job is interim." — Warren Wiersbe.
"God's thoughts surprise the powerful and comfort the poor. His ways overturn human hierarchies. We think might makes right; God thinks the last shall be first. We value wealth; God values justice. The poor understand this inversion; the rich struggle with it." — Gustavo Gutiérrez.
The devil wants you terrified, paralyzed, hopeless. But God says 'Be strong!' This is gospel against fear. When terror comes, cling to the Word: 'I am with you.' Christ has conquered; what can man or devil do? A mighty fortress...
"Faith is SUBSTANCE—not vapor, not wish, not maybe. Faith creates atmosphere for miracles! When you believe, you're standing on solid ground that the natural eye can't see. Faith is heaven's currency; spend it boldly! Believe for the impossible!" — Bill Johnson.
"When God's ways confuse us, we surrender our understanding. Not passive resignation but active trust. We cannot comprehend His thoughts, but we can follow His ways. The incomprehensible God has revealed enough to obey. Walk in the light you have." — E.
"Scripture lights our path by revealing the whole story—creation to new creation—and showing us where we stand within it. The Word illumines not just morality but identity: who God is, who we are, where history is going. We find our...
"Work 'as unto the Lord' cannot justify exploitation. The God we serve liberates the oppressed—including oppressed workers. 'Not human masters'—this critiques masters who claim divine sanction for injustice. True work for God includes working for just labor conditions." — Gustavo Gutiérrez.
"'Lean not on your own understanding'—because your understanding is fallen, finite, and fallible. God's wisdom is infinite and perfect. Trust in Him means submitting our limited reason to His comprehensive sovereignty. He sees what we cannot." — R.C. Reformed: finite trusting infinite.
"The substance of faith is Christ; the evidence is Christ. What is hoped for is Christ's kingdom; what is unseen is Christ reigning. Faith is not belief in beliefs but trust in a Person. Christ is what faith grasps; Christ...
"Grace comes to those with nothing to offer—and the disinherited know this best. Those denied worth by society receive infinite worth from God. 'Not of works'—this is good news for those whose work was stolen, whose merit was denied. Grace levels." — Howard Thurman.
"Scripture illumines the path of liberation—the Exodus story, the prophets' cries, Jesus' mission to the poor. The Word lights the way toward justice. For the oppressed, Scripture is survival light in very present darkness. The lamp shows the liberating way." — Gustavo Gutiérrez.
"'You prepare a table before me'—God sets the Eucharistic table even in the presence of our enemies, our struggles, our sins. The banquet is not earned; it is prepared FOR us. We come hungry; we leave fed. This is the...
"Eternal life is not just endless existence but the life of the age to come—resurrection life, new creation life. Sin's wages are death, the undoing of creation. God's gift is life, the renewal of all things. In Christ, we receive...
"Fear has to do with judgment—but believers will not face condemnation. Perfect love assures us: in the day of judgment, we will have confidence. As end-times events intensify, fear may rise—but God's love is greater. Those who know His love...
"The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice. This is the substance of Romans 8:28 for those who have suffered: God is not absent from history. He is working—sometimes invisibly, often slowly—bending all things toward...
"The new creation has already begun in Christ, and we are its ambassadors. Mission is announcing and embodying this new reality. We don't just tell people how to go to heaven; we demonstrate that heaven is breaking in—new creation is...
"The PRESENCE of God changes everything! Waters that should drown—part! Fires that should consume—cool! This isn't just survival; it's VICTORY! God doesn't just get us through; He makes us TRIUMPHANT through! Walk through your waters SHOUTING—God is WITH you!" — Bill Johnson.
"The enslaved sang 'Great Is Thy Faithfulness' through the long night of bondage. Each morning they woke to fresh mercy that sustained hope when hope seemed foolish. God's faithfulness carried a people through centuries of night to morning's coming freedom." — Howard Thurman.
"Peace that passes understanding is not private tranquility while the world burns. Paul wrote from prison, amid injustice. His peace was communal—'the Lord is near' to suffering people together. We pray, and peace comes through solidarity, not escape." — Barbara Brown Taylor.
"The way of Jesus is the way of the cross—solidarity with victims, confrontation with powers, love unto death. When Jesus says 'I am the way,' He invites us onto a path that leads through Golgotha. The life He offers passes through death to injustice.